CLINTON IN THE MIDEAST: THE FIRST LADY

CLINTON IN THE MIDEAST: THE FIRST LADY; Hillary Clinton Tiptoes Through Praise in Gaza

By WILLIAM A. ORME Jr.

Published: December 15, 1998

GAZA, Dec. 14—
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been hailed here as a champion of Palestinian statehood, walked a careful diplomatic line in public appearances today, praising Palestinian national aspirations while avoiding comments that could be considered a call for sovereignty.

But it was clear as she traveled through Gaza today that her seemingly offhand endorsement seven months ago of eventual Palestinian independence has made her something of a heroine, even though her comments were immediately disavowed by the White House and were never publicly repeated.

She was greeted with thunderous applause as she walked through the door of the Palestinian National Council gathering here this afternoon. The ovation was repeated with equal enthusiasm as she was introduced from the podium by Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader.

Earlier in the day, as she visited a center for disabled children and a refugee settlement with her daughter, Chelsea, and Mr. Arafat's wife, Suha, Mrs. Clinton was acclaimed by local civic leaders as if she were one of their own.

''We are very proud of you and your support for the Palestinian people and their own state,'' said Hanan Matar, a Gaza City lawyer, as she welcomed Mrs. Clinton to a workshop on family law and women's rights. Mrs. Clinton smiled and asked for a clarification on the jurisdiction of local religious courts in disputes over a wife's right to work or to seek further education.

In her public remarks here, Mrs. Clinton praised ''the leadership of Chairman Arafat'' in the peace efforts and the ''hope for the future'' embodied in building new institutions, both civic and physical, like the Gaza International Airport that her husband and Mr. Arafat formally inaugurated today.

But she appeared to prefer stressing more generic themes, such as the social benefits of spending on higher education for women. The capstone of her Gaza tour was a session seemingly calculated to scare off all but the wonkish: ''Women's Empowerment Through Micro-Lending.''

While President Clinton pushed publicly for further progress in the peace talks, Mrs. Clinton went to the gritty heart of one major unresolved problem: the Arab refugees from the Middle Eastern wars of a half-century ago, and their direct descendants, who remain virtual wards of United Nations refugee camps. Of the 1.1 million refugees in 59 United Nations settlements in four countries, about 760,000 live in the Gaza Strip, and they constitute three-quarters of Gaza's population.

Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Arafat visited the most densely packed of Gaza's eight refugee settlements. Known as simply ''the Beach,'' the Gaza City seafront camp has 65,000 people crammed into 70 sandy acres of low-rise cinder block, many of them living three or more to a room. ''I know that for many here in Gaza, life has been too hard for too long,'' Mrs. Clinton said during her visit today, announcing a modest increase in the annual United States contribution to the United Nations refugee program for the Arab refugees to $73 million from $70 million.

Mrs. Clinton's visit and the international attention that comes with it ''is like a blessing,'' said Ron Wilkenson, the spokesman for the United Nations' Gaza refugee program. ''These people are so desperate for a little bit of recognition. People don't realize how little they have, and how little they are asking for.''

As she did in Israel on Sunday, Mrs. Clinton avoided reporters' questions about independence and statehood, and her aides again strove to avoid photographs of the First Lady framed by the Palestinian flag. Still, her itinerary in Israel on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara, by her side and her tour through Gaza today with Mrs. Arafat was seen in both places as a display of conscious symmetry.

Mrs. Arafat, usually not the most public of figures here, was clearly pleased by Mrs. Clinton's companionship.

''Thank you for witnessing with us the construction of our country,'' she said, introducing Mrs. Clinton at the micro-lending forum, ''and I hope you will be able to be with us to witness our Palestinian state.''

Photo: Hillary Rodham Clinton joined President Clinton, the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and his wife, Suha, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to dedicate the new Gaza International Airport. (Reuters)